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Everton denied 'clear' penalty, rues Martinez

Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes his side were denied a "clear" penalty during Thursday's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Hull City.

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Written ByRyan Benson

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The loss was the fourth successive reverse Everton have suffered
in the top flight following defeats to Southampton, Stoke and
Newcastle United.

But Martinez feels his men were unlucky with one refereeing
decision in particular, as Steven Naismith was not awarded a
first-half penalty after being tripped by Gaston Ramirez.

And after surviving that let-off, Hull ultimately went on to
take the lead through Ahmed Elmohamady in the 33rd minute, with
former Everton man Nikica Jelavic adding to that shortly before
half-time, leaving Martinez to rue what might have been.

He told reporters: "I've seen the two actions [controversial
incidents] and I think with Ross Barkley it is clearly a free-kick,
but it is outside the box, so I wouldn't expect a penalty for
that.

"The first one is clearly a penalty for a foul on Steven
Naismith. He [Naismith] is trying to bring the ball down and he
doesn't see where Gaston Ramirez is - he just comes from the back
and the contact unbalances him and he loses control of the
ball."

After almost five months of no managerial changes in the Premier
League, Neil Warnock and Alan Irvine were the first bosses to be
removed from their posts over the festive period, but Martinez is
adamant that the thought of him suffering a similar fate has not
entered his mind.

He added: "If I could have time to think about all of those
aspects [other people losing their jobs], I wouldn't be doing my
job properly.

"Now is the time to find solutions internally and I need to
bring the enjoyment back to my players on the pitch and that is the
only concern I have. I will do that with all my energy."